You knew for a fact you guys shouldn’t be doing this. It was kinda disrespectful, definitely obscene, and positively nerve wracking. Then again if something feels so good should you really stop? Even if it was in public, and even if anyone could see you.
You’re face was flushed red, and you were partially trying to hide it with the sleeve of your sweater. Asher chuckled as he watched you shift uncomfortably.
His grip on you tightened for a moment and then he released you, “If you’re that embarrassed about holding hands we can stop you know.” He grinned even wider when you immediately snatched his hand and pouted.
You halfheartedly glared at him as your fingers interlocked. They were only a little sweaty due to the amount of hand holding that had happened during this event, “I’m not embarrassed to hold your hand!” you once again mumbled into your sleeve, “It just makes me really happy....”
He snorted again, but you could still see the telltale flush rising to his cheeks, “It’s almost like you like me or something.” he quipped playfully. To which you responded with by hip bumping him gently, “Oof so abusive!”
You rolled your eyes at his antics, and hand in hand you walked back into work.
The night up until this point had been almost a complete bust. Your friends had all disappeared at one point or another with someone who caught their interest, even though they all declared before ever leaving the house that it was a girl’s night and you would all stick together. So, you sat yourself down at the bar and used the thin stirring straw in your glass to push around the mostly melted ice around in a circle while contemplating calling a Lyft and just heading home for the night.
However, when you looked up to grab your phone you noticed a man standing next to you. He looked to be around your age with brown eyes and bright blonde hair that was tousled every which way, and tattoos poking out from the sleeves of his shirt. You raised your eyebrows at him and blinked slowly. “Can I help you?” you asked, unsure of what he wanted.
He smiled and leaned against the bar, “So I know this is going to sound ridiculous and I’m sorry for bothering you but, my friend is over at our table and he hasn’t been able to look anywhere but at you since we got here. He’s too much of a baby to actually get up and talk to you so I am here to say my friend Asher would very much like to talk to you.”
You leaned back slightly in your chair as you listened to him talk and casually glanced over in the direction that he was indicating to several men at a table all trying and failing to look as if they weren’t watching but one in particular looked very flustered and looked away immediately when he caught your glanced. He’s kind of cute. You hummed softly and looked back at the man in front of you to see that he was watching you expectantly.
“Well, you should tell your friend Asher to join me over here,” you said, shrugging a shoulder.
He let out a short laugh and nodded as he pushed himself to stand upright. “You got it,” he said, patting the bar before turning and heading back to where he came from. You twisted back in your seat to face the bar and looked down at your phone to try and entertain yourself for a little bit. Even if this Asher guy wasn’t all that interesting, at least you managed to have some sort of human interaction tonight.
A few moments later there was a full glass sitting in front of you and you looked up to see the man from the table sliding into the seat next to you. “I… Aleks, my friend, said you were drinking a gin and tonic,” he said sort of nervously, “I thought you could use another.” You smiled fondly and slide the glass closer to you. “That’s sweet, thank you. I’m Y/N, by the way,” you said, extending your hand. Asher nodded and took your hand in his to give it a shake.
He was nervous, and it was cute.
“So, is there a reason you didn’t come over here by yourself?” you asked with a slight chuckle.
Asher shrugged and sighed, “I don’t know. I didn’t really want to bother you, I guess. But my friends were being dicks and Aleks took matters into his own hands.”
“I’m glad he did,” you said, grinning.
His eyebrows shot up in surprise, “You are?”
“Yeah, I am,” you laughed, nodding your head, “I was about to head out, if he hadn’t I’d be on the way home for a night of leftover Chinese and shitty Netlfix.”
Asher beamed back at you and ducked his head slightly as he rubbed at the back of his neck, chuckling lowly to himself. When he looked back you, you felt your stomach flip and your heart skip a beat inside your chest as his dark eyes made contact with yours. “Do you maybe wanna head out somewhere quieter? There’s a pizza place up the street that is amazing,” you suggested, hand fiddling with the phone in your lap.
“Yes! I mean, yeah… that’d be cool,” he said, shaking his head.
You nodded and slipped out of your chair, “C’mon, then. First slice is on me.”
"24 w/ Asher"
"yoo is it a possibility for you to write a part 2 for the fic about asher??"
Requested by: @bananakid42
Word count: 2,002
TW:abuse
——
The sun had disappeared from the sky by the time you finally made it home on Sunday. A cold darkness had spread over your neighbourhood and a gnawing feeling made home in the centre of your chest. You almost wished that you had let Asher walk you home like he wanted to, just so you'd have some sort of distraction for the time being. There'd be a little less time for thinking if he'd come along. You couldn't do that to him, though. Not because he'd have to walk back home in the dark or because you wanted him to get some rest for school tomorrow, but because you already knew that nothing good could be waiting for you when you came home.
You slowly peeled back the flimsy piece of scratched up and dented metal that was the screen door and pulled your keys out of your pocket. Once you found the right one and managed to quietly unlock your front door, you gently slipped into the front room, barely making any noise at all, save for the slight jingling of your keys.
All the lights were still on in the house, which meant that your mother was still up and wandering the house, scowling at anything out of place and bitching at everything that wasn't spotlessly cleaned. You flinched when you heard the sound of deep screaming from the living room, but nevertheless let out the breath that you didn't even realise you had been holding. If your parents were arguing again then that meant that they were sure to not notice your presence. You took this opportunity to walk straight into the hallway and into your room as fast as you could without the floor creaking.
Once inside your room, you threw your bag onto your bed and curled into a ball beside it. You used to do this all the time when you were younger, because you didn't have anywhere else to go. Back then your mother still hit you and your father was still useless, but you didn't realise that that wasn't all there was to life. You didn't know that there was more out there for you than getting beat and yelled at because when you were younger nobody cared that you were hurting and you didn't care for anyone either. In fact, you only started believing that things could be better when Asher came around. He was gentle and helpful and caring. No man had ever been that way towards you, and Asher didn't even do it because he wanted something in return.
You curled yourself tighter thinking about him. Asher was so good to you. You weren't even sure that he tried to be that way, either. That was just the way that he was and you were glad for it. Your eyelashes fluttered closed and you let your muscles relax. The heart that had been beating rapidly in your chest had slowed down significantly.
"(Y/N)!"
You jolted when you heard your mother's scream from the kitchen. You quickly straightened yourself out and slid off your bed, blood cold and feet suddenly wobbly. With slightly shaking hands, you threw open your door in fear of your mother becoming impatient and coming to your room to fish you out herself. It didn't even occur to you that you didn't know how she heard you at all. Part of you must have already known that you'd get caught.
"Y-yes m'am." You managed to stutter out when you got to the end of the hallway.
As you turned the corner into the kitchen, you saw your mother, red faced and holding a dirty pot in one hand. Her upper lip was curled under her teeth in an act of rage and her eyes held the stare of a woman who could not keep herself contained a moment longer. You knew not to be scared — this had only happened a thousand other times — but something inside of you couldn't help but scream for you to turn and dash to the front door. You remained with your feet planted heavy on the carpet.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing, huh?" She snarls. "You thought I wouldn't notice you were here?"
"No, m'am-"
"Don't you know what I told you? I said get out of my fucking house! Who raised you not to listen to what you're told?"
You stayed quiet, eyes flickering between your mother's face and the pot she held. You figured that, at this point, talking would only make things worse.
"Speak to me when I talk to you, child!" Her hand rose and the three pounds of iron in her hand came crashing down onto your shoulder. You gasped in pain, at a loss for any other emotion than shock, despite knowing fully well what was to come. When you collapsed to the floor you were met with another blunt force, this time to your back and again to your shoulder.
"I'm sorry, miss!" You said between her hits. The pot hit the ground by your ear and her hand instead focused its attention to your hair.
She pulled you upward so that your arms couldn't help but reach out to touch the floor in a last ditch attempt at trying to steady yourself. With possibly even more force than she had been using with the pot, her hand came down on your face. Not once and not twice, but repeatedly she pounded your face with her closed palm. Blood from your nose squirted into your mouth and at times all you could see were flashes of light.
Soon enough, you were on your knees on the kitchen floor, slumped into your monster of a mother's hold. Your face felt busted and your body felt exhausted. The blood from your forehead was seeping down into your vision. Although you gasped for breath and begged for relief, you knew what was to come. She let go of your hair so that you collapsed to the floor and got up to walk out of the kitchen and, finally, you closed your eyes one last time.
With clammy hands and a heart nearly hammering it's way from your chest, you stared into the darkness of Asher's room. The world was still, both outside of the house and inside of the house. The things that you had dreamt were nothing but a fiction of the past.
The sound of the covers close by brought you out of your thoughts of fear as Asher stirred from only about a foot away. Even without the lights on, you could see the outline of his face. His eyes were open and he was facing you with a worried look. You noticed his messy bed head, although you couldn't bring yourself to laugh with the dreadful feeling of anxiety sitting heavy on your shoulders.
"What's wrong?" He asked, voice deep and thick with sleep.
You couldn't seem to catch your voice. "N-noth-thing."
You shifted to lie down against the futon once again, pulling the covers over yourself high enough to reach just under your nose. With your eyes closed, you tried your best to control your shaking body and tight chest. You didn't want to bother Asher with this, especially not so early in the morning, anyway. It wasn't that you didn't trust him with your secret, it was just that you didn't know if he'd want to associate with you afterwards. He could always think that you wanted attention. He could have gotten bored with you and slowly drifted away. You couldn't bear the thought of losing the only person who meant anything to you.
"You're trembling."
Asher sat all the way up and turned towards you. You could tell in his voice that he was concerned, so you opened your eyes and tilted your head his way.
"How c-can you tell in the dark?"
"I can feel you." He said. "What's wrong? Bad dream?"
You nodded and mumbled a small "mhm."
"Do you want to tell me about it?"
This time you sat up, blankets pulled around your shoulders. Asher thought you looked smaller like that. You had always been shorter than him, but fear made you especially tiny and frail. You studied his face for a moment.
"You can tell me." He said when you had been silent so long that he thought you were lost in thought. "I'm not going to judge you."
Your fingers tightened around the blanket as you slowly nodded. Asher was bound to figure it out someday, anyway.
You didn't know how to begin. Would it be from the beginning? Or from the start of yesterday? Asher was sure to piece things together once you started telling him about the dream. He'd seen the bruises peaking out of your shirt and the cuts that sometimes popped up near your face. Not to mention, he had bandaged the "mysterious" cut on your cheek himself. You weren't afraid of your mother, though. You were afraid of what she could do to you. There would be one day when she would push it too far. You probably wouldn't even make it to the end of senior year.
"I-I had a dream that someone killed me."
Asher's eyebrows furrow. "What happened?"
"I walked home tomorrow and..." You paused and tried to catch the breath that was stuck in your throat. Hot tears formed at the corners of your eyes. Ashamed of looking like a fool, you dropped your head down and covered your mouth with your hand.
Asher scooted himself to your side and pulled you towards him. You gave in and buried your face into his chest.
"Is it someone we know?" He asked as he gently stroked your hair. "Do you want me to take care of them for you?"
"You can't," you told him through tears, "there's nothing we can do."
"You don't know that. Who is it?"
You did know that, but you also knew that he was stubborn. If you didn't tell him, he would find a way to figure things out for himself.
"My mom."
The words were so quiet that you almost didn't think he could hear them. Asher's grip around you tightened, though, and you could feel him grow tenser.
"She did this to you? The cut on your face? How long has this been happening?"
You nodded. "A long time."
"(Y/N), you should have told me sooner."
Asher let go of you, but didn't back away. Instead he smoothed some of your hair behind your ear.
"Don't go back there."
"Asher, I don't have anywhere else to go!" You protested. He wasn't seeing the whole reality of the situation.
"Stay here. My parents won't care — they love you. What if you go back and something worse happens to you? I'm your friend, I can't let you get hurt."
You shook your head as you wiped away your tears.
"Just until you can live on your own?" He pleaded, sensing that you weren't going to be reeled into the idea that easily.
You stared at him for a moment before finally agreeing. "Thank you-"
"Don't thank me, you deserve better than her."
With a sniffle, you nodded and let Asher back away again. You laid down on the futon, face pressed into the pillow that Asher had given you before you had gone to sleep, and you pulled the blanket up to your chin. Asher was still partially visible now that your eyes had adjusted to the lack of light. He was lying on his back, eyes fixed to the ceiling and bottom lip pressed between teeth.
"Goodnight, (Y/N)." He said softly.
You reached your hand out from the warm material and slid it over Asher's, which up until this point had been folded over his chest. He gave you a reassuring squeeze in return.
Finally closing your red and puffy eyes, you gave him an even softer, but ever thankful "goodnight."
——
I had to take a break for a while because I lost motivation to update but here's something I wrote this week that I felt like posting. Number 24 on the prompt list is "you're trembling."
pairing: AsherxReader
summary: Asher’s managed to get himself extremely drunk on stream and he texts you to come over and help him. You do, but you don’t expect him to confess that he loves you.
warnings: N/A
word count: 1,830
notes: thank you to @cat-tries-to-write who prompted this for me, bc she knows my love for asher. this is based off of the time he got really really drunk on stream like a month ago?? and this appeared. but yeah, i hope everyone enjoys it!!
“Are you okay?” You’re asking him. He’s sitting on the floor, chewing on something, and he’s just blinking up at you. He had texted you, asking you to come over and you could tell by his texting and the misspelled words that he was beyond plastered. He had mentioned he was streaming and that he may be a little tipsy, but tipsy was an understatement.
“Now that you’re here? I’m tippy top, baby. Just like supercali…. frag... whatever, you know what I’m talking about.” He’s slurring his words a little and he’s swaying just slightly. You’re glancing over at the computer screen, and you’re pretty relieved that the stream has been turned off. You’ve watched it before, have been in chat a couple of times, but you didn’t really want to make an appearance to the stream just quite yet. And you didn’t know how to work a stream anyway.
“You’re supercali fucking drunk, you know that?”
He blinks at that, and then pouts a little. “No, you are.”
You resist the urge to facepalm. But you do sigh. “Okay, not so drunk. Let’s get you to bed, shall we?” He doesn’t respond, but he’s reaching up, doing grabby hands towards you. You snort a laugh, and then reach down, helping him up.
He’s up… and then he’s stumbling into you. “Shit. Sorry.” He’s mumbling as he bumps into you. It’s not hard at all, and you’re not bothered by it in the slightest. Instead, you’re just shaking your head fondly, hands steadying him.
“Hey, it’s fine. First things first, let’s get… whatever you’re chewing on out of your mouth, okay?” You feel like you’re talking to a pet, reaching up to gently touch his chin.
“No.” He’s pulling his head away from you and chewing even more. Probably just to spite you. He never does like people telling him what to do. Especially when he’s drunk. As apparent right now. And has been made apparent by the countless amounts of shots he’s taken when someone’s told him no more shots.
“Asher… come on. I don’t want you to choke and die.”
That seems to appeal to his senses. He’s quickly reaching up, grabbing whatever had been in his mouth and tossing it to the side. You’re looking at where it landed, and then your eyebrows furrow. “Really? Rubber bands?”
“They’re not as good as I thought they’d be.”
“Duh.”
A pout forms across his face, again, and then he’s leaning down to bite your shoulder. And then he just kind of stays there, nibbling at your shirt. “That’s mean.” It’s muffled, but you can still hear him.
You let out a sigh. “Really? That’s mean? Okay, if I’m mean, that means I can’t be here to help you. Mean people don’t help out their friends, right?” You’re teasing, of course, but he’s wrapping his arms around you and making a long whining noise.
“No, don’t go. I love you. I want you to help.”
Okay, so your heart does a flip flop at the words ‘I love you’. You’ve harbored a crush on him for quite some time, probably since the moment you met him. And it’s only grown more and more since then. But you’ve been too nervous to say anything to him, so you’ve kept it hidden. You want to hold on hope that he feels something for you, especially now, but you feel like it’s a platonic love and nothing more. You’ll just have to get over it.
He murmurs your name and wraps his arms around you, pulling you close. “Will you stay with me?” He’s asking, softly, and you’re biting your bottom lip hard.
“What, to make sure you don’t die during the night?” You have to make it teasing. You just have to. He’s being extra sweet and it’s kind of killing you right now. But you’re going to have to get rid of your feelings and focus on getting Asher and getting him to bed.
“Yeah. And I want you to sleep with me.” Your eyebrows raise and he notices your silence and he’s stuttering a bit. “I mean, in bed, not like… you know… but like… I dunno… I wouldn’t mind the other one… but only if you were into it and then we could but then again I’m drunk so it’s probably not the best idea. But... shit.”
You can’t help but to let out a snort of laughter, and then you’re pushing him back a little, just so you can guide him over to the bed. You focus on the drunk part, pushing the other words to the side. He just admitted he was drunk, so there’s no way he’s in his right mind. He’s just saying things. “I’ll stay. Just to make sure you don’t throw up and die in your sleep.”
“And you’ll sleep with me?” He’s giving you stupid puppy dog eyes and you feel your heart constrict.
“In your bed? Yes.”
“Can you cuddle me?”
You hesitate, because you want to, but at the same time, you know it’s going to kill you. But you nod, agreeing to do it anyway. It’s hard to say no to him. Especially when he’s looking at you like this. Ooh, boy, you’re going to be in for a long night.
“Yeah, we can cuddle.”
“God, I love you.” He murmurs it, and then he’s taking your hands in his and then collapses on the bed, pulling you on top of him. You stumble, and you’re trying to make sure you don’t hurt him as he pulls you on top of him, but he honestly doesn’t seem to mind.
“Jesus, Asher.” You’re frowning down at him, and then moving so you’re lying next to him, not on top of him. He pouts at that, but he’s turning and snuggling into you. Your heart pounds and you’re almost positive he can hear it, but he doesn’t mention it. Instead he just sighs, wrapping an arm around your waist and burying his face into your chest.
And this? This is nice. You might as well take advantage of this while you can. You wrap your arm around him, resting your head on his. You’re honestly glad that you came over in your pajamas because you’re pretty comfortable now. You’re closing your eyes, taking in the moment and you’re sure you could spend every night like this. But that’s not going to happen.
“Why haven’t we done this sooner?” He’s murmuring and you’re eyes are opening.
“What do you mean?”
“Why haven’t we cuddled?” He’s burying himself closer, if that was even possible, and you’re using your free shoulder to shrug.
“I don’t know. It just never happened.”
“I like this. A lot.”
You don’t know what to say. One part of you wants to be truthful and get it out, but you know he probably won’t remember all of this. Which is the worst part. He’s said he loves you twice, and you want to tell him that you love him, too, more than platonically, but you just can’t do it.
“I like it, too, Asher,” you’re whispering, because fuck it, you might as well be truthful. You can’t tell him that you love him yet. Or ever, if you wake up and he doesn’t remember anything.
“I want to do this more…” he’s replying, and then he’s silent. You have nothing to say, but you press a kiss to the top of his head. He’s making a content sound and then after that? Nothing. You’re sure he was close to sleeping anyway, and you stay awake to hear his breathing even out. You’re staring up at his ceiling, and it takes you quite some time to fall asleep, but eventually, you do.
You’re nice and warm when you wake up. At least, your front is. In the middle of the night, Asher had turned over on his side and you were spooning him. And that’s how you wake up. You’re pulling away, sitting up and running a hand over your face, trying to wake up. Asher lets out a grumble, and he’s turning to lay on his back, looking at you. You look over your shoulder at him, and the smile he gives you makes your heart flip flop. Fuck, you’re so screwed.
“Hey,” he’s greeting in a husky voice.
“Mornin’, drunky. How are you feeling?” You’re asking, and he’s reaching out to grasp the hand that was on the bed.
“I’m good. No headache or anything. But I’d feel better if you’d come cuddle with me again.”
You stare at each other for a moment and then you look away. “Do you remember what happened last night?” You’re asking, pulling your hand away from his. Fuck, you’re nervous, but it’s better to get it out of the way first thing, right? Easier for you. Now that you know he’s okay, you can just leave if it all falls to shit and your heart is torn to shreds because he doesn’t like you back.
“I remember most of it. I remember the cuddling the most…” he’s trailing off, and he’s sitting up on the bed, next to you. “I uh… meant what I said…”
You’re blinking in shock, and then you’re looking at him. “What, the fact that you like to cuddle, the wanting to sleep with me, or the ‘I love you?’ part?” You’re asking him.
A blush forms across his face and he’s rubbing the back of his neck. “I… uh… all three? Fuck…” he’s trailing off, and then letting out a sigh. “Look, we’ve been friends for a while and I’ve… had feelings for you just as long. I just… didn’t know how to go about telling you, and I should’ve outright told you. I hope I didn’t fuck things up last night. I don’t want to push anything on you and I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”
You’re staring at him, kind of in shock. You… what? He likes you? And he meant it? You’re blinking a couple of times and all you can say is “Wow”.
“Is… that a good wow or a bad wow?” You can tell he’s nervous and you’re instantly reaching over to grab his hand.
“It’s… a good wow. I was… honestly so worried that you didn’t mean anything last night. Or that you were going to forget. I was just… planning on heartbreak because, Asher? I’ve had feelings for you for a long long time now. I just… didn’t know what to say either…” you pause and then you’re letting out a laugh. “Guess we’re a couple of fuck heads, aren’t we?”
“A pair of idiots,” he’s saying, but fondly, and then he’s reaching up, cupping your face in his hands. “But we can be idiots together?”
You’re smiling up at him. “Will you be my idiot?”
“Only if you’ll be mine.”
You’re leaning forward to kiss him, morning breath and all. “I wouldn’t want it any other way.”
On the other side of the warehouse, you could hear Aleks and James doing lord knows what on the couch; the only thing you could tell was that it was loud enough to be heard despite your headphones on. Shaking your head, you refocused on your monitor as you very close to finishing the video that you had been editing. At some point, the noise on the other end of the office had died down and you glanced up from your screen to see Asher and Jakob making their way back to their respective desks.
You finished your edit and slipped your headphones off of your head to rest them on your desk. You leaned back on your chair and spun slightly to see pretty much everybody was deep into whatever it was there were working on. Glancing at the time, you got to your feet and grabbed your bag from the floor.
After a moment of internal deliberation, you headed over to Asher’s desk and tapped him on the shoulder. He pushed a single side of his headphones back and looked up at you. “What’s up?” he asked, swiveling his chair enough to face you.
“I was gonna head out to Popeye’s for lunch, wanna tagalong?”
His eyes lit up, “Pretty please.”
You laughed softly and rolled your eyes at him as he got to his feet. “Alright, let’s go,” you said, turning on your heel to head towards the exit. You could hear Asher’s feet hit the concrete as he jogged to catch up with you, and he was very quickly by your side. Before you could head through the kitchen into the lobby, you heard Aleks call after you.
“Don’t take all day, you two love birds! We’ve got shit to do in like an hour and we don’t need to be late because you were too busy sucking face,” he laughed from where he was sitting at the gaming setup.
Asher only flipped him off over his shoulder and very nearly pushed you through the door which just made you laugh lowly. You glanced over at Asher and smirked a little as you opened the front door leading to the parking lot. He didn’t meet your gaze at first but did just before the both of your slid into your car. “You can just… ignore what Aleks said, y’know. He’s an asshole,” he said softly as he buckled his seatbelt.
You put the key in the ignition and grinned, “Aleks can be an asshole… but he’s an honest asshole.”
“Let’s not discuss this on the way to Popeye’s please,” Asher grumbled.
You chuckled and pulled out of your parking spot, “How about on the way back?”
"17 with Asher boy?"
Requested by: @modestcowchop
Word count: 3,124
TW for abuse.
-----
Outside of the library window, the clouds shifted in the sky. They drifted over the blazing sun and blocked out its blinding glow. Four of the eight lights that hung overhead didn't work, so the storm clouds rolling in only made third period even more dark and gloomy than it usually was. You hadn't minded though. Somehow the thought of rain was calming to you.
"What are you doing after school?" Asher said, making you quit your absent-minded staring into space. You looked at him, startled, but he didn't seem to be phased.
"Nothing. I'll probably sleep."
Your house was rather boring. When the internet was on, it could be fun, because you didn't have to rely on having a paid phone bill to text and tend to your social media, but when your family couldn't scrape up the money to afford it, there wasn't much else to do. Your dad was almost never home, and whenever he did finally leave the bars and come back to the house, he didn't talk to anyone. All he did was stare at the TV, using the second-hand DVD player to watch the same old movie he had seen a thousand times. He didn't even speak to your mother, who was so fed up with her marriage that all she did was go off on anybody who talked to her, especially you.
You always had the suspicion that she didn't like you because you ruined her life. Before she got pregnant, she was cheer captain and class president. She had friends and parents who told her they loved her, who spoiled her to no end. For whatever reason, she ended up with your dead-beat father who your parents already didn't like and she ended up pregnant with you before she even graduated high school. Those friends that she had suddenly stopped talking to her and her parents refused to let her back into their house. When she turned eighteen, she married your dad, but only because there weren't many other options. You thought she really must regret not leaving you on somebody's doorstep. It made you wonder how happy she could have been if she had just never even met him.
"Want to come over?" Asher asked you, fingers fidgeting with the corner of his notebook on the desk in front of you.
You liked Asher, sometimes maybe more than you were supposed to.
He always pulled out all the stops for you, no half-assing anything. You didn't know why he did so much for you, but you figured that, at this point, it was out of habit. The two of you had been friends for so long, how could it have been because of anything else? That's what you would wonder sometimes — if these little things he always did were just because he was kind, and not because you had known him for a few years.
He stared at you eagerly. "Want to go out and do something? Or you could just come over..."
Stuff like that is what had you questioning his true feelings. The way he'd look so caught in suspense whenever he'd ask if you wanted to hang out made you so suspicious. You couldn't tell if he wanted you to say yes or no.
"Okay," you shrugged, trying to act casual, but also trying to subtly read his mood. "That sounds better than going to my house."
Asher didn't know much about your home life. He would meet you outside your house sometimes and had maybe seen your mom at school once or twice, but other than that he didn't know and wouldn't ask. You don't know whether or not he thought that you even had a dad, since he so rarely left the house, but you were glad that they must have never seen each other. You don't know what would've happened if your father were to see Asher in the house one day. He didn't like people, let alone teenaged boys.
"Cool, how about we meet at my house after school and then we decide from there?" He smiled. Nearly every time he did that you couldn't help but feel your body relax and your heart melt.
"Sounds good."
The shrill sound of the bell ringing snapped your attention away from Asher, whose happy grin became a slightly disappointed poker face. You gathered up your folders and notebooks and pushed in your chair in the very back of the library. Now you needed to sneak out of the room without the librarian noticing where you were, since he was always yelling at kids for sitting behind the bookshelf where he couldn't see them. Asher nodded to you, signalling that you could leave first. It had to be done one at a time.
"See you later." You waved before disappearing from the fiction section.
You heard him say a quiet goodbye.
Fourth period dragged on for so long. So did fifth period, and sixth period, even your seventh period, which you usually enjoyed. Fridays either went by faster than you wanted them to or they lasted longer than the whole week combined, there was no in-between. Since you couldn't wait to leave school and go hang with Asher, the minutes took their sweet time passing. Having something to do was a sure-fire way to fast forward through the weekend that you had spent five long, hard days waiting for. Still, you didn't mind if it meant that you got to be with someone you liked and not at your place, surrounded by people who couldn't stand you.
After exiting the school building, backpack slung over your shoulder, you started your walk home. Before you left to Asher's you needed to get some things. It also wouldn't hurt to tell your mother where you would be, even if she wouldn't come looking for you if you hadn't.
The street was warily quiet, all except for the distant hissing or some kind of bug. The neighbours were probably still at work. Sometimes when you walked down Pierre Avenue they were all on their front porches with their friends or out in their yard with their kids. It wasn't uncommon to smell the overwhelming scent of grilled food wafting through the Denver air. With the amount of smoke rising from backyards it was nearly impossible to tell who exactly was making hotdogs.
Your house was the last one on the street, which was a good thing, since it wasn't nearly as well-kept as the rest. Everything in the tiny garden was shrivelled or eaten away by bugs. The yard was filled with patches of yellowing, dead grass. Nobody would ever be sitting outside on the front porch, waiting for you to come home, partially because there was no where to sit.
You cautiously walked up to the front door. From the outside, the windows looked darkened, so you figured your mother was either sleeping or not home from work yet. You hoped for the latter, so there wasn't a chance that you would accidentally wake her coming down the hallway. She was such a light sleeper, and having the room right next to hers didn't help much. You didn't feel like listening to her yell at you today.
You carefully pulled open the screen door, taking your keys from your front pocket. When you managed to find the key to the front door you unlocked it and slowly pushed against it. In the front room there was no sign of your mother or father, only a dirty futon and a really old TV, the kind that you couldn't lift unless you had help.
Without closing the door all the way, you began to creep down the nearby hall to your bedroom. It was by far the smallest room in the entire house, but you couldn't expect very much, since the place wasn't very big to begin with. Besides, you didn't have very many things to store, anyway. Up against the furthest wall, underneath a window to the backyard, was your bed, and beside it was a tiny dresser. Your laptop, probably the nicest thing you own, was balanced on top. You went over to the bed and set your backpack down so you could change out of your school uniform.
The only hoodie you had clean was halfway over your head when you heard something slam down the hallway. There was no doubt that your mom had just come home and, needless to say, she was in a bad mood. Maybe something happened at work or you forgot to do something you were supposed to, maybe she was only pissed off because she had to come home to her loveless marriage and life-ruining child. Whatever was the cause of her anger didn't matter, because all you knew was that she was going to take out her frustrations on you.
"(Y/N)!" She called and started walking around on the hardwood floor of the front room with her heels on. "Get in here!"
The sound of her voice alone made you anxious. You could feel your shoulders tense as you pulled the rest of your hoodie down and opened your bedroom door.
"Yes, m'am?" You tried to keep the fear from showing when you spoke.
"What the fuck are you going around leaving the door wide open for? Are you thick, brat?"
You only intended to leave it open for a minute or two, then you were going to come right back out and leave for Asher's place. There was no use explaining that to her, though.
"I'm sorry, m'am, I thought I closed it."
You saw her raise her hand, sending it colliding with your left cheek, wedding ring and all. Still, you didn't budge. It was easier to take it than to try and fight her off. In her eyes, this was how children should be disciplined. That's okay, though, because soon you'd be eighteen and graduated and you could go live where ever you wanted after that.
"I don't know how you thought you closed it when the screen door is hanging open, too. Do you have any idea how much I pay to have a roof over your nappy ass head?"
"No, m'am."
"That's what I thought, because if you knew how much money I have to spend on you, you wouldn't stay doing this dumb shit."
It mustn't have been too much, since half the time she didn't bother to buy food or pay the water bill.
"I'm sorry."
"No, you aren't. You never are. You wouldn't care if somebody came in here and took everything in this house." She flings her shoes off by the door with a loud clack. "Ungrateful brat. Get out of my house."
You didn't have to be told twice, especially since that was your intention, anyway. With no words to say to her, you quietly skirted past your mother and walked out the front door, making a point to slam the door behind you. She didn't come out, but you could hear her yell a stream of curse words at you from the other side.
It probably wasn't the best idea to come around your place for a while, the weekend, at least. Where you were going to go, you weren't sure. You'd hate to bother Asher with your problems, even if you'd stayed the night before on similar occasions. Jakob was grounded, so he wasn't an option. You figured maybe Trevor could sneak you into his basement for a night, but you would have to be extra quiet since his brother also sleeps down there and would surely snitch you out. Trevor was also grounded, for the same reason Jakob was.
You didn't have data, so you'd have to wait until you got to Asher's to call Trevor. No matter what he said, tonight would be fun regardless. Even if you ended up sleeping on a bench in the park, you and Asher were going to have a good time.
This time when you walked down the street, school kids were playing basketball and drawing on the sidewalk with colourful chalks. An occasional car passed you up on the road. The neighbours were always so friendly. When they saw you passing from their porches they smiled and waved. You knew they recognised you, but you wondered if they knew what house you came from.
Thankfully, Asher didn't live very far from you. The walk from your street to his was only about seven minutes. You were so bored on the way over that you sometimes counted to see if you could get their any faster. On a good day, you could get there in six minutes.
When you finally pulled up to his front steps, you're out of breath. You weren't sweating, though. When you knocked it sounded just a little bit more forceful than you intended, but only because of your loud panting.
A few seconds later, Asher opens the front door, a huge smile on his face. "Hey, (Y/N)." He said as he stepped aside so you could come in. As you passed him you could feel him staring, and he tilted his head.
"Shit, what happened to your face?"
You give him a confused look. He was joking, right? Nothing had happened to your face. "What do you mean?"
"You have a huge gash on your cheek. It's, like, bleeding."
Suddenly you remembered what happened. Your mom's wedding ring must have cut you when she slapped you. How could you not have noticed?
Asher took his phone out of his back pocket and slid over to the camera to show you. "See?"
Sure enough, there was a long, deep scratch starting from almost near your ear and ending towards your nose. You couldn't believe you hadn't realised that it stung until just now. From one end of the cut, a small drop of blood trailed down your face, so slowly that it barely moved at all. It was only about halfway down your cheek and the injury happened at least eight minutes ago.
"Oh, shit, how did that happen?" You tried to play dumb. Asher seemed to buy it, because he told you to follow him to the kitchen to clean it up.
"Maybe you accidentally scratched yourself and just didn't notice."
"Probably. I've been meaning to clip my nails."
The kitchen was just as lovely as it had been the last time you were over. The marble countertops were polished so well that you could see your reflection in them as you passed. Asher's parents finally got the old cabinets redone a darker colour. They looked almost brand new. Even the tile had a luxurious shine to it, unlike the kitchen floor of your house — busted and better off just taken out. Asher tore off a paper towel from the dispenser by the empty sink and he wet it under the faucet. The water was crystal clear.
"Come here."
You stepped closer to him and allowed him to place the wet towel on your cut. He hissed as he cleaned it.
"Damn, you got yourself good, (Y/N)." His hands were so gentle. "Hold this while I go get you a bandaid."
When Asher moved away, you almost felt disappointed for some reason. You kind of liked him being so close, especially since you knew he wouldn't hurt you. Something about him made you feel safe. You figured it was just because you'd been his best friend for ages and so you trusted him. Part of you wanted to think that you felt something else, but of course, you ignored it.
While Asher walked up the stairs, you took out for phone. Might as well call Trevor while you're alone, you thought. His number was one of your most recents, and in seconds you were using your free hand to push your phone up to your ear.
Ring.
Ring.
Ring.
Just when you considered hanging up, you heard the other line click.
"Hello?" Trevor yawns. He must've fallen asleep right after school. It was probably so boring being grounded.
"Trevor, hey!"
"Oh, hey, (Y/N)."
"I'm surprised you answered, since you're grounded and all."
"I'm using my old phone."
Figured. "Oh, lucky. Well, I was kind of wondering if maybe I could crash at your place tonight? I'm sorry to force myself on you, but I'm kind of in a spot right now..."
There was a thump from Trevor's line. "Sorry, I can't tonight. My brother is having a party in the basement and somebody would definitely notice if you were to stay in my room."
Disappointed, you nod. You needed to find somewhere else to go, and you didn't have many other options. "It's fine. Thanks anyway, though."
"I'm really sorry. I'll make it up to you some other time! I've got to go right now. If my dad catches me on the phone, I'll get this one taken away, too." He said. "Text you later?"
"Yeah, bye, Trevor."
You hung up and slid your phone back into the pocket of your hoodie. Now what were you going to do? It was time to start considering the alternatives. Again, the park bench-
"(Y/N)?" Asher called to you from the archway of the kitchen, bandages in hand. Startled, you whipped your head around to where he was standing.
"Oh, thanks, Asher."
Relieved that it was only him and not his parents or sister, you stepped forward and he unwrapped the bandaid before putting it on you. You were going to look so dumb walking around with a bandaid on your face.
"You know you can just stay here tonight, right? My mom doesn't mind, she loves you."
It felt awkward knowing he had heard your conversation with Trevor. Now he probably wanted to know what kind of heat you were in to where you couldn't go to your own house. You were a little shy, although you nodded anyway. It was embarrassing pushing yourself on him like this.
"Thank you." You told him. "You have no idea how much this means to me."
"It's no big deal. You're always welcome to stay here."
You smiled and engulfed him in a tight, but friendly hug. "Why are you so fucking nice to me? I don't deserve you."
"Because I love you! You know that."
You didn't, but you loved the sound of him saying that and the way those words made you feel. You didn't have the energy or the heart to argue them. Instead you separated from the hug and together the two of you started heading toward the steps for Asher's bedroom.
"Want to play some video games?"
-----
Why the fuck is this so long?
This was my first time writing for Asher and it only took me a day or two, so sorry if it's not very good. I wasn't sure how to end the story because it was already getting kind of long and I wasn't sure if people would read something that's over 4,000 words. The good news about that is that I've gotten another Asher request, so if you're unsatisfied with this ending, maybe the other one will be better. I think I'm going to go for a more romantic route for that one instead of hinting at something like I did in this one.
I'll be editing this tomorrow after school, since I don't have time right now and tumblr messes up the formatting when I move in things from Wattpad.
You had been working as an intern for Cow Chop for a while. The work mostly consisted of editing, and also trying not to get hit in the head by whatever the boys were throwing around. What you did wasn’t all that special if you were being honest, but hey it paid most of the bills.
An important plus side to the job was Asher.
It was dumb and cheesy, but you couldn’t help it. He was funny, handsome, and a little soft. You were enraptured by him. Well maybe not that far, but he certainly made your heart beat and your blood flow.
It was all well and good with you. You’d playfully flirt, and be done with it. But sometimes you’d go a bit far and wonder; could you be something more? It wasn’t big things that made you question. It was more the small gestures. A touch that lingered a bit to long, a passing glance, a midnight phone call.
And now with his arm slung around you on the couch. More so it was slung behind the couch, and you just happened to be next to him. The casualness of it made your heart stutter.
This wasn’t really a normal occurrence for you to be on the couch, but Jakob and Asher were streaming in the office again, and had asked you to film. Getting ready to end the stream Jakob had stolen the camera away from you, and pushed you into the limelight.
Jakob had taken control and began rapidly zooming in and out the camera.“Y/N say hi!“
You rolled your eyes a little bit, “hi Y/N” you said and then dabbed. Jakob stopped his antics to glare at you. Asher seemed to think it was funny and laughed a little.
He placed the camera back on it’s perch, and came over to you, “What was that!“ he started playfully beating on you.
You attempted to worm away, “Jakob, Please I’ll be good!” you yelped. In the process of getting away from Jakob you some how ended up in Asher’s lap, “Asher please help your my only hope!” You whined looking ever the faire maiden in distress.
He wrapped an arm around your torso, “Alright Jakob knock it off.” he said batting away his tall friend.
Jakob managed to looked offended, “Oh is this a race thing?“ he said animatedly clutching his chest and then going back for more playful hits, “You going to the big strong white man to hide?“ you laughed so hard you almost burst a lung.
The angle at which you were at made it hard to breath, “Jesus Christ Jakob.“ you wheezed.
With one last hit Jakob exaggeratedly slouched onto the couch,“Yeah whatever.“ he made a move for the mouse, “That’s it that’s all folks.“ and then it was over. No fanfare no nothing.
Asher shifted beneath you, “None of that was in focus.“ he said. Jakob just shrugged in responce, and you could see that he didn’t care that much.
You wiggled a bit in Ashers lap, and he almost instinctive held you a little tighter. You settled back down, “Y’gunna let me go or?” you leaned into him and craned your neck awkwardly to look at him. The view was pretty mediocre all you could really see was his chin.
He snickered a little bit and squeezed you, “Nah.” he grinned as you wheezed more. He was a strong man sometimes.
You were about to retort before Jakob joined in fake gagging. At some point he had left the couch and was half way out the door, “If ya’ll are going to be making fucking goo-goo eyes I’m going to fucking bounce!” he shouted as he stepped out becoming increasingly muffled, “You two can do the fucking cleaning!” He slammed the door for dramatic effect.
You and Asher broke apart both a little shamed by Jakob’s apt analysis.
You rubbed the back of your neck, “Well I guess we should start cleaning...” you trailed off awkwardly. He made your brain go mush which was not ideal when the real world came crashing in.
Asher was just as cowed, “Yeah I guess.” you sensed a bit of dejection coming off of him too.
-
It took the better half of forty-five minutes to whip the office back into shape. It wasn’t hard work, and it could be boiled down mostly to putting shit back into its rightful place. yet you were still tense. The clean up had involved a lot more prolonged touching and with the addedintense staring. You felt... giddy?
The tension was palpable. You were into him and were pretty sure he was into you, but nobody wanted to make the first move. The fear of rejection grasped you like a hand around the throat.
It was just as the cleaning was coming to an end that Asher made a move, “Do you.” he stopped chocking on his words a bit, “Uh...” he looked a bit pained, “Y/N I’m into you! Do you want to go out sometime?” it all came out as almost a babble. Like his stream of conscious came out of his mouth. He wouldn’t even meet your eyes as he made his confession.
You’d kinda expected him to ask, but you also kinda expected him not to. In response you just froze. Your face went beet red. You opened your mouth to respond, “Uh, oh man bad taste OP.” you slapped your hand over your mouth looking at him with saucers for eyes, “I’m so fucking sorry I did not mean to say that!”
Oh man you fucked up. You fucked up big time, his face was also red but his was more related from the almost inhumane shriek of laughter, “Holy shit?” it sounded like a question, but you knew he wasn’t looking for an answer,
You were positively mortified, “Asher I, uh... would. I’m so fucking sorry man.“ you started to ramble and pat him on the shoulder. “ I do- uh- I would!!” Your brain trailed off and completely short circuited.
He managed to wipe away the tears streaming down his face long enough to speak, “Holy crap, I mean I’m glad. I would have been really awkward, but who says that?” he grinned grasping the hand you were patting him with, “Honestly.”
With one final visual sweep of the warehouse you and Asher are finally done. You offer him your hand, and leave the building.
It’s half a block down the road you realize that you’d left the lights on and had to turn back around. It ruined the mood, but not the moment.
Yo that Asher fic was soooo cute, could I request 12 with him?
Word Count: 335@joneatingcereal
“Stop wriggling.”
You didn’t bother looked up from what you were doing but Asher seemed to listen to your words and stopped moving around so much. He let out an annoyed sigh which made you let out a soft breath of a laugh before glancing up at him from under the flare of your eyelashes. From his seat in his desk chair, Asher looked very uncomfortable but he held still with his eyes mostly focused on the monitor in front of him.
Asher finally glanced back at you and shook his head, “I’m regretting every decision in my life that has lead me to this point.”
“Every decision?” you asked with a chuckle, “You regret working for Cow Chop? You regret moving to LA? You regret meeting me? You regret dating me?”
He let out another sigh and though you weren’t looking any more, you were sure that he was rolling his eyes. From the speakers on his desk the song changed again to something more mellow and you grinned to yourself as you lifted Asher’s hand to blow a stream of cool air over his fingers. “No, but I do regret agreeing to let you paint my nails on stream,” he replied after a moment or two of silence between the two of you.
You only laughed and raised his hand to show his webcam the lovely shade of navy blue you had coated his nails in, turning it slightly so that the lights in his bedroom would show off the light silver detailing you’d managed to do over top. “Oooh, so pretty,” you laughed, turning your head to grin at Asher. He was trying rather hard to hold a stern, unamused expression but he promptly crumbled and a wide smile broke out over his face.
“You’re dumb,” he laughed as he leaned in to press a quick kiss against your lips.
You chuckled and kissed him back, “You’re the one who is going to stream with wet nails. Who’s the dumb one now?”
